Traditions to Try in Portugal.

If you do nothing else in Lisbon, you must go to the Belem district and eat a Pasteis de Belem. Known around the world as Portuguese tarts, you have not tasted one until you have had one here, the original and the best. The recipe originated in one of the convents of Lisbon, invented by the nuns of Jeronimos Monastery in the 18th century. It involves a base of filo pastry, cream, milk, vanilla and some secret ingredients. Perhaps it was the nuns’ purity or spirituality or calm that infused these pastries with such divine flavor, but whatever it was it’s lasted into the modern era and I’m not complaining.